This year the RCH’s Music Therapy program is celebrating 25 years!

The experience of creating music together has been a source of comfort and support for many families during hospitalisation.

Our Music Therapy service uses the experience of music to aid patients in attaining, maintaining, or regaining optimum levels of functioning or adaptation in all areas of health and development. Music Therapists engage the healthy part of the child to help them cope with the illness, disorder, disease or other medical crisis which has caused them to be hospitalised.

Current Play and Music Therapy Team Leader Beth Dun was appointed as the RCH’s first Music Therapist in 1991.

“Music Therapy was recognised early on as an intervention that could improve patients and families experiences of hospital,” Beth said.

“We provided the first paediatric music therapy program in Australia, and we’re proud to see the program has become a model for paediatric and neonatal music therapy programs. The team has also become internationally recognised for clinical programs, particularly in oncology and neonatology.”

Today, the Music Therapy Team consists of six music therapists and provides 147 hours of music therapy services per week to children and adolescents with a range of medical conditions. Funding for 76 per cent of these hours comes from the generous donations from the public to the RCH Foundation.

The program offers specialist services including an internationally recognised Neonate and Infant Program, the Centre for Adolescent Health program, and a dedicated mental health Music Therapist.

Get to know more from one of our Music Therapists, Lauren, here http://bit.ly/24uIUsD

We’d love to hear about your experience with the program below!